The themes of the fundamental eschatological writings by the Church fathers were later developed by medieval and early modern writers. One highly successful 17th century writer was Capuchin Friar Martin of Cochem. His book on the four last things was so widely beloved that among Slovene readers in the Baroque period, at least two different Slovene translations were prepared and these survived in a number of versions. Their existence relied exclusively on manuscript culture and remained unknown to literary historians. In the paper, an outline is given of the Slovene manuscripts on the four last things: death, judgement, hell and heaven. Some extensive manuscripts survived that contain the entire book of Friar Martin. Several fragments and chapters of this eschatological text are also transmitted through secondary textual tradition.
|
